Within The Blink Of An Eye
by EmilyProcter0891
Summary: Calleigh Duquense, a CSI, a daughter, a sister and now also like a mother. She and the Miami team are working against time to find a serial killer who has killed two children and two mothers. Will they find the killer in time before he strikes again?
1. Chapter 1

1.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Horatio asked Calleigh before they were about to enter the house that was the crime scene of two murdered children and their mother. His hand rested on the door knob to the front door as he shot a concerned look Calleigh's way. He knew Calleigh would be more vulnerable to these sort of crime scenes now when she had a five year old baby half sister to take care of. The mother went to jail for first degree murder and child abuse, and their father wasn't really reliable with his drinking problems. Calleigh was the little girl's only hope, even though they didn't knew each other then. Now they had a really strong bond. Almost like a mother and daughter sort of bond.

Calleigh took several deep breaths before she nodded.

" Yes, I'm sure." she lied. The truth was that one part of her didn't want to see what was behind that door but the other part wanted her to be able to do her job and not let her personal life getting in her way.

"All right then" Horatio said and opened the door.

Calleigh held on tight to her kit as she walked into the hallway, almost afraid to look. What was the matter with her? She'd been to at least a thousand crime scenes like this one before. Only once when involving a child, though. She swallowed hard and followed Horatio towards the children's bedroom.

The first thing that caught Calleigh's eyes was the mother on the hardwood floor, half in, half out of the children's room, the phone in her hand and a pool of blood surrounding her white silk blouse. Peeking around the doorframe, Calleigh saw the children. Her body stiffened and her heart skipped a beat or two. Both of them was in there. A boy and a girl. Calleigh made a guess they were approximately 5 and 8 years of age.

"Oh God..." she said bringing her free hand up to her mouth in shock. Both of the children were lying, as it seemed, in their own beds, hands and feet tied together with duct tape and black plastic bags covering their faces.

"Who would do something like this?" Calleigh said in barely an audible voice, fighting the urge to run in and rip the plastic bags off the children's faces in hope they would take one big deep breath, but she knew better than that. There was no chance they would still be alive by now. She sighed deeply and shook her head before turning it away.

"Calleigh. You okay?" Horatio asked placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

_Am I okay? Two small innocent children, one of them Molly's age, have been murdered, for crying out loud! Of course I'm not okay! _She wanted to shout at him but knew better and nodded instead.

" Yeah. I just...I'm okay" Calleigh replied with another sigh and put her kit down to take out a pair of white gloves so she wouldn't compromise the evidence while processing the crime scene.

Eric pulled up outside the yellow crime scene tape surrounding the Canning family's house and front yard. Collecting his kit from the passanger seat he walked up to one of the officers and signed the klipboard before ducking under the tape.

It was a beautiful day. The the sky was blue, the sun was beaming down on him and it was not too hot and not too cold out.

Entering the house he put on his gloves and made his way to the others. Calleigh was photographing the scene and Horatio stood at the sideline, watching and thinking.

"Good, you're here Eric." Horatio smiled.

" Yeah, I'm sorry I'm late H. Got caught up in traffic."

" It's all right."

" So we've got the mother and the children. Where's the father?" Eric asked.

Just when Horatio opened his mouth to answer his question Calleigh cut him off.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this" She said giving the camera to Eric and made her way out of the room feeling both Horatio's and Eric's gaze at her back.

Without looking back once, she walked out of the house and didn't stop until she reached the curb. She ran her fingers through her hair and sat down. She hadn't noticed that her heart was pounding in her chest until now. Trying to fight back the tears she felt burning behind her eyes, she lowered her head so that her blonde hair could fall down and sheild her face just incase she would fail. She wasn't the kind of person to cry in public.

Hearing her breath turning into small sobs, Calleigh shook her head slightly. She couldn't remember the last time she had let a case get to her like this. It had probably never happened before. She just couldn't stand seeing those children like that. Lifeless and helpless.

"Calleigh."

Calleigh heard someone call to her from behind. She knew who the voice belonged to. It was Horatio's. Wiping away the only tear that had escaped her eye with the back of her hand, she stood up, tugged at her shirt and then turned to face her boss.

" I'm sorry, Horatio. I don't know what got into me. I just can't bear seeing those kids like that. It makes me think of Molly and..."

" Nothing will happen to Molly, Calleigh." Horatio said softly

" I know. It's just that...."

" I know, Calleigh. I know." Horatio said wrapping his right arm around her shoulders and leading her towards her hummer.

" Tell you what. It's almost lunch time. How about you go eat lunch and then drive back to the lab to process the evidence that has probably gotten in by then? Does that sound like a better idea?" He asked opening the door for her to the driver's seat.

Calleigh hesitated before she climbed inside and looked at Horatio.

" Are you sure?"

" Yeah. I'll just call Ryan down here. It's no problem."

" Thanks Horatio." Calleigh said and got a smile and a nod in reply from her boss before buckling up and pulling away from the curb.

Keeping her eyes on the road she couldn't get the pictures of the murdered Canning siblings and their mother out of her head. What if Molly and she was next? " Don't be silly" She said to herself out loud. _Great, and now I'm talking to myself._ Rolling her eyes, she thought maybe she could put on some music. Maybe it would make her think of something else. Reaching down to the stereo she pressed the play button. In the next second the happy tunes of child music filled the car. Calleigh smiled to herself remembering how Molly wanted to listen to her CD while riding to school.

" Rain, rain go away, come again another day. Daddy wants to play, rain, rain go away." Calleigh sang along to the childish adult voices and laughing a little before turning it off and changing CDs. Pressing the play button a second time it didn't take long before John Mayer's song Free Falling started to play and Calleigh sighed. She could really relax to this song, but it did not get her on other thoughts.

Half an hour later she had finished her lunch at a restaurant and was back inside her car. Feeling more and more worried and anxious for every minute that passed, she picked up her phone ready to call....who exactly? She tossed her cell into the back seat. She was angry. Angry at her herself for not being able to work the case like she use to. Maybe she should go see a therapist or something. No, no way. What _was_ the matter with her?

Suddenly her cell started to ring in the backseat and she glared at it for a moment before crawling over there to answer it.

" Duquesne" She succeeded to answer without sounding too angry.

" Calleigh. It's me, Katlyn, from the bar. Your dad's here and...."

Calleigh closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with her free hand. She wasn't in the mood for this at all. In the past three days she had had to go pick her dad up from the bar because he had been too drunk to drive home on his own. And what was he doing there now? It was only 1:30 in the afternoon!

" It's okay, Katlyn. I'll be there in ten minutes" Calleigh said, trying to sound as casual as possible before hanging up and tossing the phone in Molly's five point harness car seat. Now she had another reason to be angry and disappointed.

Crawling back to the drivers seat she buckled up and stared out the windsheild. This was just not her day. Now she had to drive to pick her dad up and after that she had to drive back to the lab.

It took a few seconds before it hit her. Today was the day her dad had promised to pick up Molly from school and be with her until Calleigh got home since she had to work late. Why would her father do this to her? It was really hard on her and she couldn't be everybody's mom!

"Goddamn son of a bitch" She muttered and slapped the steering wheel then pummeled the seat beside her. " Shit, crap, fuck, fart!"

_Shit, crap, fuck, __**fart**_? she repeated in her head before bursting out laughing. What was she? Five years old? Like Molly?

Like the little boy who had his feet and hands tied together and had been smothered with a black plasitc bag.

" Shit" Calleigh said again, then burst into tears.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Calleigh pulled up on the driveway to her house and turned off the engine. Glancing in the rear view mirror she saw Molly still sound asleep in her car seat. Since her father wasn't able to pick Molly up from school, Calleigh had called Peta, a friend who had an own daughter, Sophia, in Molly's age. Peta had offered to pick Molly up and let her stay until Calleigh got off her shift at CSI. The two little girls had had a great time and later on both of them had fallen asleep while watching Madagascar 2.

_I can't really blame them_. Calleigh thought taking a look at her watch. It was 10:13 PM and Molly's bedtime was usually by 8 PM.

Unbuckling her seatbelt she climbed out of her car and went round to Molly's side to unstrap her from her seat. Calleigh couldn't help but to smile. Molly looked so peaceful in her sleep.

Carefully lifting her out of the seat, so that not to wake her up, Calleigh placed a tender kiss on Molly's forehead.

"Calleigh, is that you?" Someone slurred from the livingroom. It was their father. After picking him up at the bar, Calleigh had driven him to her house and locked him in. She didn't want him to go back to that bar while she was at work and she didn't think he would stay home if she dropped him off at his house. Besides, she had planned on having a serious talk with the man when he was sober enough to have a serious conversation with.

" Yes dad. I'm just going to put Molly to bed. I'll be right with you." Calleigh said with a sighed from the hallway. It had been a long day. Since she hadn't been able to work out in the field today she had been working in the lab but it had been a lot to do there as well.

Making sure the door was tightly locked behind her, she made her way into Molly's bedroom and carefully changed Molly into her nightgown, then tucked her in. She stood up and moved to the door, but in the doorway she stopped and turned around to watch Molly sleep. At first Calleigh was smiling but somehow seeing Molly so peaceful made her think of the murdered Canning siblings. The pictures in her head seemed impossible to earse. _Who would do such an awful thing to an innocent child and why?!_ Calleigh found herself frowning when a deep, loving voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

" She looks a lot like you did when you were in that age, Lambchop" Her father said from behind her.

Calleigh swirled around.

" Dad, don't" She warned glaring at him before glancing back at Molly, who now had turned her back to them, then she silently closed the bedroom door.

Calleigh grabbed her father by the arm firmly and led him into the living room.

"Why don't you sit down." She said, more like an order than an offer. When the elder Duquesne was seated on the couch, Calleigh crossed her arms over her chest. " What is wrong with you?! Are you trying to hurt her feelings?" Calleigh hissed at her dad and pointed in the direction to the bedroom where Molly was sleeping. She watched as he lowered his head in shame.

"Lambchop..."

"No dad. Your other daughter in there. Remember her? All morning she had looked forward to spend the afternoon with you! I'm sure she will be very disappointed when she wakes up!" Calleigh said, not really wanting to admit that she was hurt as well.

"But she and Peta's daughter seemed to have a really good time."

"Don't change the subject! That's not the point!"

"Then what is because I don't need a lecture from you Calleigh" Duke raised his voice.

"Keep your voice down." Calleigh warned. " Then what _do_ you need? Because I can't keep getting off work to pick you up at the bar everytime you're drunk!"

"Who says you have to? I can take care of myself!"

"Reality check dad. The past three days, THREE DAYS, I've had to pick you up because you haven't been able to drive home on your own. Does that say anything to you?" Calleigh didn't wait for an answer, she just continued. " You know what? I've had it with you and your drinking problems, next time you're on your own! Can't you see this is hurting me too!? I can't be everybody's mom. I just can't!"

She saw that her dad's eyes had fallen on something behind her so she turned around to see what that 'something' was. It was Molly standing in the doorway to the livingroom. Her dark blonde hair was messed up at one side but not the other and her fingers were clutching to her baby blue Disney princess nightgown. Calleigh could see by the look in her sister's eyes that she was scared.

"Hey baby." Duke said and stood up. Molly ran back into the bedroom. Calleigh turned around and shot her father an angry look.

"What? This is my fault?" He asked raising his hands into the air.

"You stay here. I mean it. Stay here!" She called over her shoulder as she walked towards the bedroom.

When Calleigh walked into the dark bedroom, she couldn't see Molly anywhere. Switching on the lights she saw Molly's hand under the bed. Calleigh knelt down beside the bed.

"Molly, it's okay. You can come out from under there, honey"

"Are you sure?"

" Yes, sweetheart. I'm sure." Calleigh said and smiled as Molly crawled out. The little girl threw herself into Calleigh's arms and Calleigh embraced her before standing up. She carried Molly over to the bed and sat down.

" Why did you hide?" Calleigh asked, brushing away hair from Molly's face. Her cheeks were wet which indicated that she had been crying.

" You were fighting."

" It's alright sweetie. I was just upset with daddy because he....well..." Calleigh didn't know what to say. "...well because he didn't keep his promise." She finished hoping Molly wouldn't question her about what kind of promise it was.

"What promise?"

_I should've seen that coming._ Calleigh thought but forced a small smile onto her lips.

"That he would help me today." ..._and babysit you_. She finished off in her mind.

"And come play with me...." Molly suddenly said in a low voice as if she had been reading her older sister's mind.

Calleigh looked down surprised at Molly.

" Yeah and that too. Tell you what? I'll see to it that he will pick you up from school tomorrow. How does that sound?" Calleigh said tucking her little sister in a second time. She looked around the room for her sister's favourite teddybear. A brown chubby bear, wearing a beige shirt that said 'My best friend', and it sure was Molly's best friend. She had even named it Teddy and would not go anywhere without it.

Finding it on the floor on the other side of the bed, she picked it up and gave it to Molly who was shaking her head.

" What is it sweetie?"

"I don't want to spend tomorrow with him. I want to be with you. You're always gone. Don't you love me anymore?"

Calleigh tilted her head to one side and sighed as she watched her sister hugging the teddy-bear tight to her chest with a sad pout on her lips. This sure wasn't easy.

" Of course I love you Molly." Calleigh said sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I know I've been working a lot lately and that I haven't spent so much time with you..." Calleigh began and had to hold back a chuckle as Molly nodded her head in agreement to what Calleigh had said, like an adult in a meeting. "..but that doesn't mean I don't love you. Besides, you're my sister. I have to love you. It's the law." Calleigh tried to joke just to see a smile on Molly's lips, and she succeeded.

" So, Do you want to spend the afternoon with daddy tomorrow or Peta and Sophia?"

" You"

Calleigh gave her younger sister a look that said that she had to choose between the two options she just had given.

" Eric?" Molly asked. Eric had been a great help with Molly also and when Molly didn't speak of Sophia, she spoke a lot of Eric.

Calleigh shook her head.

" I'm sorry sweetie but he's working too."

" Okay. Sophia and Peta." Molly answered, hugging the bear just a little tighter. Calleigh nodded and planted a kiss on Molly's forehead before standing up.

" Goodnight my little princess. Sweet dreams"

" Goodnight my little...."

Calleigh smiled from ear to ear as she watched Molly frown while thinking of something to call her.

"....frog! Goodnight my little frog." .

Calleigh let out a soft laugh as she walked to the door.

" Ribbit, ribbit." She said in the doorway and heard Molly giggle before slowly closing the door behind her a second time tonight.

Calleigh laid in her bed and stared up into the white ceiling, wondering if it had been a wise decision to let her father stay over the night. Why wouldn't it? After all, it was her father.

Turning over to her left side, she looked at the picture of her and her older sister and younger brother on the beside table and smiled. She even remembered when that picture was taken. Picking the photograph up in her hands, she went back in time and played the memory like a video in her mind.

It was a warm summer afternoon. Calleigh's older sister Anna was 12, Calleigh 7 and their younger brother 5 years old. Their dad had taken them hiking and for once, he was sober! It was as sunny as it could be and Anna was complaining about the heat and Wayne about his shoes, apparently they weren't comfortable enough. Calleigh herself wasn't complaining about anything. She liked being outside and enjoyed the walk.

They came to a stop at a lake and decided to eat some sandwiches there. When they had finished, Wayne insisted on swimming and so did Anna. Their father didn't like the idea but couldn't say no. Within 15 minutes, all four had changed into bathing clothes and was in the water and playing tons of different games.

Calleigh found herself smiling as she put the picture back on the beside table. She hadn't seen Anna and Wayne since she left Louisiana. All she knew was that Anna was an attorney in Los Angeles and Wayne was a police officer in patrol in Louisiana. It wouldn't surprise Calleigh if Molly started to work in law enforcement as well when she got older. Speaking of Molly. Did Anna and Wayne even knew she existed? That they had a baby half sister? She would ask her dad in the morning and see if he had told them but now she needed some sleep.

Calleigh woke up from the sound of her cellphone ringing in the pocket of her pants. Sitting up in bed she squinted her eyes to see the what time it was. 3 am? It was 3 am. Who could possibly want to talk to her in the middle of the night? Shuffling over to the black pants, she reached into her pocket and answered the phone without looking who the call was from.

"Duquesne" She mumbled into the mouth piece.

"Calleigh, I've got really bad news. We need you in the lab." She heard Eric's voice on the other end.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

Calleigh put on her white labcoat and entered the lab where Eric and Ryan were standing and looking at some pictures. At first Calleigh couldn't make any sense of what the pictures showed but when she got closer she knew. There had been another murder, just like the one the morning before. Almost holding her breath she looked up at her colleagues and noticed they both were staring at her.

"Calleigh, there is something you should see." Eric suddenly broke the silence. Calleigh watched him as he tugged his hands into the pocket of his labcoat and moved around the layout table to pick up and hand one of the pictures to Calleigh.

"Oh?" Calleigh said and crossed her arms over her chest to cover up a shiver. She knew that if they had woken her up at 3 am, the thing they wanted to show her wasn't a good thing." What is it?"

"There's been another murder. The child survived. He is in the hospital now. The mother, on the other hand, did not." Ryan filled her in. " But we found this..."

"Found what?" Calleigh asked, taking the picture from Eric's hands and studied it for a while.

"The victim was holding this in her hand when we found her." Eric said.

The crime scene photo was of a woman's arm. She had wounds which indicated struggle but something else caught Calleigh's eye. The woman was holding in a white letter-like paper. Looking closer at the paper, Calleigh could see it was signed from Wayne Duquense. Her brother. Did this mean her brother was a suspect in a murder investigation? How could he? First of all, he would never kill anyone. Let alone children. Second, he wasn't even in Miami...or was he?

Calleigh almost held her breath and looked up at Eric. His chocolate brown eyes expressed worry and she had to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. Giving the picture back to Eric, she rubbed her forehead with her other hand and exhaled. She was too tired to think, but she knew this did not look good.

"Is he a suspect?" Calleigh kept her voice low and her gaze on the floor. She didn't even have to look up at the guys to know they were both nodding.

Calleigh turned around as the door opened and Natalia came in with some file papers in her hands. Her medium length brown hair was hanging loose over her shoulders and she didn't even look up at others as she spoke.

"Guys, you are not going to believe this. The fingerprint on the kitchen knife that was used, was registered to Wa..." Apparently Natalia didn't notice Calleigh until now and that was why she stopped her sentence.

Calleigh stared at colleague, waiting for her to continue, but all Natalia did was giving Calleigh an apolgetic look.

" Wayne?" Calleigh asked after an awkward moment of silence and crossing her arms over her chest once again.

" Yeah. I'm so sorry Calleigh" Natalia answered.

Calleigh shrugged "It's okay..." She lied. She didn't know what was worse, the fact that she wasn't allowed to work this case now with her brother involved, or that her brother was a suspect. She felt Eric's hand's on her shoulders.

"Calleigh..." He began.

Calleigh wanted to turn around and just let him embrace her. She had liked Eric for years and she knew he liked her too, but she couldn't do it. It wasn't like her to do that.

"Eric, it's okay." Calleigh replied instead and cleared her throat. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go make a call."

Walking past Natalia and out the door, Calleigh headed for the elevator. How come everyone was at the lab earlier than her? Right, because her brother was a suspect and she couldn't work the case. Her brother was a suspect! The words echoed in Calleigh's head. Strangely she found this very annoying. Pushing the elevator button one more time in hope it would come faster, she picked out her cell phone from her pocket and dialed her father's number.

She was still a little angry with him for what had happened earlier. They had never finished their talk. After Calleigh had put Molly to bed she had found her father asleep on the livingroom couch and she had let him sleep.

She walked into the elevator as it arrived and pushed the button for the top floor to where they had their offices.

It took a very long time until her father finally answered, his voice was sleepy. Calleigh pictured him lying on the couch in her livingroom, his eyes half open and having a confused expression on his face.

"Dad, could you send me Wayne's number?"

"Calleigh? Where are you? What time is it? Why do you need his number? Is something wrong?"

"I'm at the lab. I told you that before I left. You don't remember?" Calleigh asked worried about Molly at this point "I asked you to keep an eye on Molly."

" No, no, I don't remember, What time did you leave?"

"Around 3:30. Could you go check on Molly?"

"Oh, she's fine."

"Dad, just do it, please. Oh and I need Wayne's number too" Calleigh said walking out of the elevator as the doors opened. She walked down the long corridor before finally reaching her office and closed the door behind her. Taking a seat in her black leather desk chair, she let out a sigh of relief as she heard her father say Molly was still sound asleep in her bed.

"Okay good. Could you please take her to the preschool in the morning? I probably won't be home by then. I have some paper work to take care of here at the lab." Calleigh said trying to balance the phone between her ear and shoulder as she picked out the papers from the third desk drawer. Placing them neatly on top of the desk, she glanced at her watch, it was already 4:25 am

" Sure lambchop. I've sent you Wayne's number too. I think he will be thrilled when you call him."

_Don't be so sure about that. _Calleigh thought.

"Maybe.." She replied. " Dad, I have to go. I've put Molly's clothes for today on the chair. Make sure she brushes her teeth before you leave the house too."

"All right. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks. Bye dad."

"Bye, I love you lambchop"

"Love you too." Calleigh said and ended the call.

Reading through the message her dad had sent her with Wayne's number, she opened the top drawer this time to find a paper she could write down her brother's number on.

There was no way she could call her brother at this hour. It was too late, or early, and she was too tired to even think of what to say to him. They hadn't spoken in years!

Pulling a out a piece of blank paper, she scribbled down the figures that formed his number with a pen. She put the piece of paper aside and started on the paperwork that laid in front of her.

Calleigh woke up by bumping into the backsupport of the sofa that she had fallen asleep on around 8 am this morning in her office. She was definitely not used to sleep on something as narrow as this, she was just glad she hadn't rolled it off.

Sitting up she glanced at her watch and noticed it was already 12:40. She had spent almost the whole night at the lab. Why had she spent the whole night at the lab? She was called in here to know her brother was a suspect in a murder investigation. All the memories from the night came back to her. The fingerprint on the knife, the feeling when she found out, the touch of Eric's hands on her shoulders, the number....

Calleigh pushed herself up into a standing position and walked over to her desk to collect her younger brothers phone number. She was surprised that she had had the energy to clean all the paper work off of her desk before falling a sleep on the sofa.

She would call Wayne once she got home. First, she would collect Molly from school. A little earlier than usual but Calleigh thought Molly would be glad to spend some time with her.

Calleigh entered the Kindergarten in Miami Dade county where Molly went. There were kids everywhere. Calleigh thought they would all run around and scream but they were not. Actually, they were sitting in a nice little circle in the center of the floor and sang songs.

The teacher stood up and made her way to Calleigh.

"Miss Duquesne"

"Hi Mrs. Watson. I thought I would get Molly a little earlier today but I see she's not here. Where is she?" Calleigh asked, offering Molly's teacher a smile and thinking Molly maybe was in the bathroom or something.

" Molly has already been picked up."

"What?"

" There was a man claiming to be her brother, who picked her up an hour ago."

Calleigh's heart nearly stopped.

" No, no, no, this is not happening" Calleigh said shaking her head side to side. " Why did you let her go with him?"

" I-I...I assumed it was okay."

"Assumed?!"

" He showed me his ID. Wayne Duquesne. I thought you knew about it."

" No, I did not know. You shouldn't have let her go with him..." Calleigh said, starting to panic. So it was true, he was here in Miami. How did he knew about Molly and what did he want with her? He didn't even know her! She didn't even know him! And how did he knew where she went to school? The questions were spinning around in her head, like clothes in a dryer, until they all settled down on one answer. _Dad...._

" Should I call the police?" The red head teacher asked nervously.

Calleigh felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Looking at the caller ID, she saw it was from a private number.

"I am a CSI..." Calleigh said to the teacher, maybe sounding a little angrier than she intended, before answering.

"Dad?"

Calleigh got no answer. At first she thought it was no one there and was going to hang up but it was then she heard the small sobs on the other end. She could tell it was from a child.

"Molly?" She asked almost in a whisperer, walking away from the teacher. "Molly is that you, sweetie?"

" Calleigh, I want to go home..." Molly was crying.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Bursting through the front door to her house, Calleigh threw her purse on the floor and didn't even bother taking her shoes off. If she hadn't been so worried and angry, she would probably have noticed the lovely smell of someone's cooking in the kitchen.

Duke stuck his head out from the living room and smiled at Calleigh. He was all dressed up and everything but Calleigh was too ignorant to notice that.

"Hi Calleigh. Guess what?" Duke said stepping out into the hallway.

"Where are they, dad? Where are Molly and Wayne?" Calleigh bellowed and searched the livingroom before starting to climb the stairs.

"uh...Calleigh. Slow down. How did you...wha..wait" Duke tried to speak to her but was way too confused.

Calleigh could hear her father's footsteps behind her but she didn't turn around. She hadn't called Horatio and the team yet but if she didn't find Molly here and Duke wouldn't tell her where they were, Calleigh would call them.

"If he hurts her... in any way. I swear to God I'm going to......" She began to threaten her father as she opened the door to Molly's bedroom.

To Calleigh's surprise, the room had been cleaned. When she had put Molly to bed last night, toys had been lying everywhere on the floor, and now they were put away in boxes that stood on the bottom shelf in Molly's bookcase. Calleigh walked into the room, she had never thought of that it was so pink in there. The walls, Molly's Cinderella carpet, even the sheet's in Molly's bed was pink and had all the Disney princesses on them.

"Calleigh!"

Calleigh's gaze went to the corner of the room where she used to sit and read Molly stories on the three big bean bags they had put there. Now a man, a few years younger than herself, had taken her place. The man had dark blond hair, almost brown. Unlike Calleigh he had blue eyes instead of green and he was holding a book in his hands about Curious George.

"Calleigh, Calleigh!" The little girl's voice repeated over and over again as she was jumping up and down tugging at Calleigh's jacket. Calleigh smiled down at her little sister and picked Molly up into her arms before hugging her tight.

" Hi there big girl!"

" Wayne read me a story" Molly said and pointed at the man who now was standing up and putting the book back to it's place in the bookcase by the other children's books.

" Yeah, I can see that..." Calleigh said still looking at him. She wasn't sure whether she would be angry at him or not. After all, Molly had been crying when she had called Calleigh and then the line had went dead.

Calleigh watched as Wayne was smiling nervously at her and ran his fingers through his short hair.

"We were playing in the park earlier and she bumped her head. She insisted on calling you so I let her, but my battery must've died. When we got home I read her a story and now everything seems fine" He said chuckling nervously. Calleigh frowned. He was talking like they spoke every day. She hadn't seen him in 10 years at least!

"Hello to you too Wayne." Calleigh answered coldly and put Molly back down on the floor. Crouching down to her eye level, Calleigh took her sister's small hands into hers. It wasn't until now she felt the smell of someone's cooking from the kitchen which made her frown even more. Who was cooking an early dinner or a late lunch? Calleigh glanced at her father, noticing he was dressed up. So was Wayne, even Molly was dressed up. Calleigh opened her mouth to say something but she didn't know what to say. Turning her head back to Molly she forced a smile.

"Honey, why don't you go wash your hands and I'll be with you in a moment. Okay?"

"Okay Calleigh." Molly replied and wrapped her arms around Calleigh's neck in a hug. Calleigh hugged her back and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

When Molly had ran off, she stood up again.

"Wow, you two seem pretty close." Wayne dared to comment. "It took me forever to get her into the car after I'd picked her up from school."

Calleigh shot him an angry look then turned to her father.

"Are you insane!" She hissed "Let Wayne pick up Molly from school? And without telling me!?"

"Well she's my sister too, Cal" Wayne said walking over to them.

Calleigh turned around. " And you! You can't come here after all these years claiming to be anyone's brother!" She snapped at her brother who seemed to get a little annoyed now.

"You know Calleigh, the phone actually do works both ways. Anna's here too. We wanted to surprise you since it's your birthday tomorrow but apparently it was a bad idea."

Her birthday was tomorrow? _Today's February 27th....._Calleigh thought. It was true, it was her birthday tomorrow. She had totally forgotten about that. Taking a deep breath she brought her hand up to her forehead and shook her head. Something she always did when something was getting frustrating or confusing.

"Calleigh, why do you always have to be so hard on your siblings?" Duke asked

Calleigh let out a laugh before her face got serious again.

"Always hard on my siblings?" She repeated. " Dad, Wayne is a suspect in a murder investigation involving children!" Calleigh said between clenched teeth. "I've got my rights to be worried!"

A strange feeling washed over Calleigh. She wasn't allowed to talk about the case and she had already said too much.

"I-I am?" Wayne stuttered.

"Yes." Calleigh answered honestly after a while of hesitation, her voice was somewhat softer to her brother now. " I didn't even know you were down here in Miami so I was going to call you. That's why I asked for his number too, dad." Calleigh explained. " Wayne, you'll have to be at MDPD today for interrogation. I'll call Horatio and let him know you're here." Calleigh finished with a heavy sigh as Molly came running back from washing her hands.

"Look, they're clean!" Molly said happily holding up her hands to show Calleigh.

"Wait. Do you honestly think I killed those children?" Wayne said as if Molly had never come back. Calleigh quickly covered the child's ears and glared at him.

"Well do you?" Wayne insisted, totally ignoring Calleigh's warning look.

"Wayne. Of course she doesn't. You're her brother." Duke said patting Wayne's left shoulder and giving Calleigh a stern look."Now let's go down and see what Anna has been cooking for us, shall we?"

The dinner was not really as anyone of them had thought it would be. Calleigh and Wayne didn't spoke. Nor did Calleigh speak with Anna. She thought having dinner with her two adult siblings felt like having dinner with two strangers, even though they grew up together. The only persons that spoke was Molly and Duke and sometimes the others answered when Molly asked them questions like what certain words meant and what you got when you mixed two colours with each other.

Calleigh stabbed at her pasta and looked up at Anna who sat across the table.

Her long brown hair was put up into a neat ponytail and her green eyes were sparkling. She seemed happy. When Calleigh was younger she played more with Wayne than with Anna. That's when she developed an early interest in guns. Anna had always been that shy girly-girl with straight A's in school and that everyone was always talking about. Calleigh didn't have such bad grades herself and she had never really been jealous of her older sister.

As Anna turned her gaze Calleigh's way and their eyes met across the table, Calleigh forced a small smile onto her lips.

"This is delicious, Anna." Calleigh said with a nod as she brought the fork up to her mouth.

"Thank you, Calleigh"

"I like the food too!" Molly commented, with her mouth full, from the seat next to Calleigh.

"Well, I'm glad." Anna replied with a chuckle.

"It looks like you've been feeding the table" Wayne teased Molly and reached across the table to pick up some pasta, that had ended up on the table from Molly's plate, and tossed it lightly at his younger sister.

Molly tilted her head back and laughed, revealing all the food in her mouth that she hadn't swallowed yet, before grabbing her hand full of pasta to throw back at Wayne.

Calleigh's eyes widened and she stopped Molly just seconds before she was about to throw.

"No! I don't want a foodfight in my kitchen. Put that down Molly."

"He started it." Molly said with a pout as she let the pasta fall back to her plate.

"And I'm ending it" Calleigh replied, thinking she maybe was a little to hard on her younger sister. She didn't know what got her act like this. She certainly had had mood swings the past few days. Sighing deeply she moved Molly's plate away. Duke took some paper and wiped both Molly's hands and face.

"Don't you guys wish mom was here?" Anna suddenly said without making eye contact with any of them. Calleigh froze and noticed Duke and Wayne did too. She hadn't seen or spoken to their mom in years!

"No, she was never there for us when we needed her." Wayne said and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back on the chair's high backsupport.

"I agree" Calleigh answered, picking in her food.

"I do wish she was here." replied their father and lifted Molly from her seat onto his lap.

"My mommy is in jail" Molly said as if it was a good thing and the room became silent.

Before anyone had the chance to reply a knock was heard on the front door. Calleigh wiped her mouth with a napkin and excused herself before standing up and heading to the door.

" Eric. Hi." Calleigh said and forced a smile." Has the boy in the hospital woken up?"

" Hey" Eric greeted and then shook his head no in reply to Calleigh's question. "Not yet. Am I interrupting in anything?"

Calleigh stepped aside and indicated for him to come in.

" No, of course not. Well, we were having dinner but I would say everyone is finished now. Would you like to stay for dessert?"

" I'd love to, but I can't. I'm here to bring Wayne in for interrogation since he didn't come on his own."

Calleigh felt her heart sink but tried to keep a straight face so that not to show it. She swallowed a few times and studied Eric's face. His dark eyes were full of concern and she could see he didn't like doing what he did.

"Of course." She managed to say after a few short seconds and forced the weak smile back."He's right in there."

"Calleigh, do you want to come with."

Calleigh lowered her gaze. Of course she wanted to come with them to the station but she couldn't. She had promised to spend the evening with Molly since she had to go to the lab the day after anyway.

" I do..." She began

"but you can't.." Eric finished her sentence.

"Yeah. I had promised Molly. She will be devastated."

"I understand." Eric said and nodded his head.

Calleigh nodded her head too before turning around.

"I'll go get him. Wayne!"


	5. Chapter 5

5.

There was a sound of a window breaking from downstairs and Calleigh sat up in bed hastily. She wasn't really a heavy sleeper, though anyone would have woken up from that noise.

She removed the covers from her legs and slipped her feet into a pair off marine blue slippers she had bought years ago, but still had. It was that kind of slippers you got really attached to and just couldn't throw away, how bad they even looked.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Calleigh tried to listen to any kind of footsteps in the house. All she could hear was the wind blowing outside her window and for a mere second she thought she had dreamt the sound. No, she hadn't dreamt it. Someone was in the house.

Almost tip-toeing over to her gunsafe, at the other end of the room, she picked out her Kimber compact .45 caliber semi automatic and made sure it had bullets inside, just incase some psychopath actually was in her house.

Calleigh set into a run down the hall as she heard a shrill scream from the room her older sister had stayed in.

She ran as fast as she could but somehow she didn't seem to get anywhere. The hall was just getting longer and longer and she was running slower and slower. What was this?

Calleigh saw the dark figure pull her sister out from the room, by the hair, and into the hall. He stabbed her several times to the chest before letting Anna fall to the floor with the blood pouring out in a pool around her body. Then he snorted at her and moved on to Molly's bedroom.

The fear had consumed Calleigh. She had tried everything, yelling, but no one seemed to hear her, running, but she wasn't getting anywhere and even shooting, but the trigger wouldn't budge. This man, whoever it was, was going to kill her whole family without her being able to do anything about it.

Calleigh witnessed the man smother Molly with a black plastic back. Just like someone had done to the children in the case at MDPD that Calleigh couldn't work.

When he was done and Molly wasn't moving anylonger, he cleaned up after himself and seemed to be sure not to leave any trace whatsoever behind him, before he left the house through the broken window he a few minutes ago had climbed in.

Calleigh felt sick to her stomach and her knees didn't seem to carry her anymore. Falling to the floor she tried to catch hear breath as the tears streamed down her cheeks. Why couldn't she do anything. Why couldn't anyone hear her? And why did the man kill her sisters but spared her?

Calleigh felt a sharp pain to her chest, like her heart had been frozen then shattered into millions of pieces, which made her almost unable to breathe. Never had she felt like this before. It was a great loss and from what it seemed now, she didn't think she would ever be able to get over this one.

Calleigh's eyes shot open, and remained wide open. Where was she? When she realised she was in her bed, in her room, she exhaled slowly. Both she and her bedsheets were soaked in sweat and her heart was pounding like someone was playing racquetball in her chest. _A dream. It was only a dream. _She repeated in her head as she tried to swallow but her mouth was too dry.

Slowly turning her head to her left, she could see that her digital clock on the night stand table showed 2:12 am. Normally she would go back to sleep but this night she couldn't. Her chest was still hurting and she could feel some cool tears slipping down her hot cheeks. Though the things she had seen wasn't real the pain she had felt was very real.

Calleigh lay in bed as long as she needed to calm herself down. When the pain hurt less and the tears had stopped, she managed to get out off bed and get herself into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water. Calleigh looked at her reflection in the mirror and noticed how pale she looked. She needed a glass of water. She dried her face with a white towel that was hanging on a hook nearby the washbasin before walking down to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.

Calleigh moved over to one of the kitchen windows and stared out in the backyard, the glass feeling cool against her palm.

She hadn't bothered to turn the lights on. What if she would wake up her dad then, who was sleeping on the livingroom couch?

His snoring was light but still audible. It wasn't like he woke up the whole house or anything.

Calleigh rememberd when she was little and how she used to sneak into her parents bedroom at nights whenever she had had a bad dream. She used to tiptoe over to her father's side of the bed, make him move enough towards the middle so that she got room. She slept like a baby there and when the sun started to set in the morning, she tiptoed back into her room and her parents never noticed. Or so she had thought for all these years, but was there a possibility they knew but let her sleep in there? All of this was of course when her parents had gone to bed sober,which wasn't often.

Even though his drinking problems and their arguments hurt her, Calleigh couldn't deny she loved her father dearly. When she was little and her father had succeeded to stay sober, she was the center of his world. He would teach her everything she wanted to know, and that was a lot. He would take her to the zoo and to the park, hold her when she was sad...he had been more to her than her mother had ever been. In her eyes as a child, he had been a hero.

Calleigh realised that all the things she had said to her father a few days ago, about him being on his own next time he got drunk, wouldn't happen. If she got a call, she would be there to help him. She did it out of love but it was not easy on her, and certainly not fun to babysit a grown man, but she would help him.

Calleigh sighed and took a sip of her water. The liquid cooled her throat all the way down to her stomach. Maybe it had been a good thing not to turn on the lights after all. The sky was crystal clear and Calleigh could see all the sparkling stars. If the lights had been on, she wouldn't have seen them as clearly as she did now. It was really beautiful and it helped her to find some peace within herself.

Knowing her brother was being held in custody for at least 24 hours, was making her a little nervous. She believed Wayne wouldn't hurt anyone, but then again, that is why she is not on the case. But what got her wondering was how the letter had ended up in their victims hand as well as Wayne's fingerprint on the knife. If he had been in Miami, how come he hadn't visited her? Calleigh frowned at the thought. She might not know the answer now but she would figure it out.

Calleigh finished her glass of water and walked into the livingroom where her father was sleeping. She almost felt sorry for the man and for all the problems he had but didn't seem to be able to handle on his own.

"I love you dad..." She whispered and tucked some hair, that was dangling in her face, behind her right ear. If someone had broken a window to get in, like in her dream, they would have had to get past their father first, and she knew he would do his best to protect his daughters.

Calleigh started to climb the stairs leading to where her own bedroom was and to where her sisters slept. Opening the door to Anna's room, Calleigh stuck in her head. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the dark but then she could see her older sister being sound asleep in the bed.

Since Anna was 5 years older than Calleigh and 7 years older than Wayne, she had almost filled the role as a mother for them as children. When their parents had been drunk, Anna was the one Calleigh and her brother had turned to if they were scared. There had been many nights where Anna had woken Calleigh and Wayne up and together they had ran away from home. Usually they stayed at their neighbour's house. An old lady with her husband, Mrs and Mr Marshall. Or now when she thought about it, they hadn't been that old. Maybe in their 50s.

When Anna later had left for college, Calleigh was the one looking after Wayne, even if there only was two years between them. Later Calleigh left for college too and Wayne was left alone.

Calleigh was glad Anna and Wayne had come for her birthday, even though they hadn't seen each other in years, Anna had sent her birthday cards and Christmas cards every single year.

Calleigh closed the door as quietly as she had opened it before moving to her last stop before her bedroom. Molly.

Sticking her head through the gap between the door and the door frame, she could see Molly clearly due to the night light she had on. She was so cute. Calleigh had to hold back a laugh at the child's position in bed. Molly's head was turned at the other side, where her feet usually was, and she was taking as much place as possible with her arms and legs. The cover was on the floor and so was Teddy and the pillow was on it's way to end up on the floor as well.

Calleigh opened the door more and walked in. She grabbed the pillow and placed it carefully underneath Molly's head, then she picked up the teddy bear and placed the covers back over her little sister. Studying Teddy for a while, Calleigh made a guess Molly had had him ever since she was born. He looked really old. Even though Molly had thousands of stuffed animals, she loved Teddy more than anything in the world.

Calleigh lay Teddy down close to Molly before kissing the child on the forehead. The past weeks Molly had played detective games and played that she was a CSI or a police officer on patrol. Calleigh had told Molly a few stories about cases she had worked that wasn't too gruesome and Molly had loved them. It wouldn't surprise her if Molly would keep the Duquesne tradition and work within the police and law enforcement when she got older.

Once Calleigh was back in her bed, the sleep still didn't want to come to her. She was lying on her left side on the left side of the bed, facing the window and had her back to the closed bedroom door. The digital clock was now showing 2:57 am and in the morning she would drop off Molly at school herself before heading to the lab to visit Wayne, but also to work on other cases she had. Sure, it was her birthday but she didn't feel like celebrating it.

Calleigh heard her bedroom door open slowly and every muscle in her body tensed but she didn't move. Who was that? The covers on the other side of the bed moved and who ever it was had crawled up in her bed. Calleigh slowly turned around and met Molly's frightened eyes. She had tucked herself into Calleigh's bed and held Teddy tight to her. Calleigh smiled as an approval to let her sister stay over the night and brushed away hair that had fallen in Molly's face. Molly cuddled up closer to Calleigh and closed her eyes. Calleigh wrapped her arm around the five year old to make her feel safe and then closed her eyes too. Apparently Molly was afraid of something and Calleigh herself had had a bad dream. Normally she wouldn't let Molly stay in her bed, but maybe this night it was good for them both...


	6. Chapter 6

6.

"Hey, Cal. Wait up!"

Eric's voice could possibly be heard through out the whole lab. Calleigh laughed mentally at her own joke as she turned around to see her colleague jogging up to her.

"Hey. What's up?" She asked once he had reached her side and they could start walking again. Calleigh didn't know where Eric was heading but she herself was on her way to ballistics.

"Didn't you hear?" Eric asked, keeping Calleigh's pace.

"Hear what?"

"You're back on the case. Turns out Wayne's alibi checked out. He is no longer a suspect"

Calleigh felt a wave of relief wash over her and she struggled to keep a not-too-excited face.

"That's great!"

It was great. This meant she could actually go back to work and not have to sit in her office and only do paperwork.

"Could you please update me on the case?" Calleigh asked spotting the file Eric was holding in his hands.

"If you ask nicely". Eric teased. Calleigh smiled and slapped him lightly on the arm.

"That wasn't nicely." Eric chuckled

" Well, I said 'please' before I slapped you."

" Uh.. okay then. Well, first we have the Canning family. Mother was stabbed to death and her two children were first overdosed and then the killer wrapped a black plastic bag over their heads. The mother was alone with her children. The children's father lives in Arizona. Then we have the Kingston family. The mother was the only one getting murdered. She was also stabbed several times to her chest, just like the Canning's mother. Her son, 12 years, was on the other hand not overdosed like the Canning children but hit by a car. He survived, if you can call it that. He's in a coma and he's in the hospital. As soon as he wakes up they will call us."

Calleigh nodded. She knew about this already. Well, not all of it, but most of it.

"What was the kids drugged with and how were they drugged? And have you found out who the driver was?" Calleigh asked as they entered the ballistics lab. She slipped her white labcoat on, which had her name on the left side, in black. Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned to Eric as he spoke.

"No, no idea who the driver was but we might have a car and that's a start. Ryan is working on it. According to Alexx, both kids were overdosed with over-the-counter cough medicines which also was the COD."

"Really? And they died in their beds, both of them? I don't know, maybe it's just me, but something doesn't seem right here."

" Maybe they were put down for a nap?"

" At 11 in the morning and with plastic bags over their heads? Talk about lights out." Calleigh mumbled sarcastically as she sat down on a stool. "I don't know Eric, but something seems off..." She shook her head. "What about the weapons the mothers got stabbed with? Were any knives left at the scenes?"

"Actually, Natalia found a kitchen knife at the Canning family's house, in the trash. It was the same knife Clarissa, the mother, got stabbed with." Eric said.

"And the other mother?"

" Not found the murder weapon yet, but we're not done processing that crime scene either. That's also why I'm here. We have a scene to process, let's go."

Calleigh raised her eyebrows and stood up. She wouldn't want nothing more right now than to get the animal that had done this. Or animals. There could be more than one person involved in this.

" Okay, I'll meet you out by the car. I have to go grab my kit."

Compared to Calleigh's three bedroom house, the Kingston's house was huge. If Calleigh hadn't worked cases with wealthy families before, she would have gasped at the sight of this. She knew it was big because she had read the file Eric had brought to her at the lab, but it was beautiful too. She wouldn't have hesitated to buy a house like that if she had had the money. The house had a pale white-ish colour, the frontyard looking more like a flower garden with small exotic trees and flowers. She also knew by the drawings that it had a huge pool at the back. Definitely a dream house in Calleigh's book.

Making sure her badge and gun were in place and in view, she followed Eric to the yellow tape that surrounded the pale house and it's surroundings. Calleigh smiled one of her famous smiles at the police officer that was holding the clipboard she had to sign before entering the scene.

"Hi Mark" She chirped, removing her sunglasses from her eyes and lifting them on top of her head.

"Hey Calleigh. Happy Birthday"

Mark was a tall and muscular man with a natural angry face that would scare any kid if he stared at them long enough. He was no one you wanted to mess with. His personality, on the other hand, was as soft as cotton. He wouldn't hurt a fly that man.

" Thank you." She replied and eased somewhat on her mega watt smile. Mark had been the first to congratulate her on her birthday today, aside from Molly who had drawn her a picture of their family at breakfast and giving it to Calleigh. There had been a few spelling mistakes on the picture but unlike their father, Calleigh hadn't cared. Duke had pointed it out, but in code so that Molly wouldn't understand and take offence.

Calleigh took the pen and wrote down her signature before ducking under the tape and heading to the house's front door where Eric was waiting.

"Decided to chat a little with the guard and let me handle all the job?" Eric spoke as he opened the door and stepped in. Calleigh tried to look for any sarcasm in his voice, to know if he was serious or not, but couldn't find any. Biting her upper lip she followed Eric into the kitchen of the house. Was he serious?

"I was kidding" Eric said after a moments pause and Calleigh exhaled a breath she wasn't aware of holding. She was just about to reply something back like ' Well, unlike you he actually remembered my birthday' but after Eric's words she couldn't. Did he even remember it was her birthday today? They had worked together for years now and if he liked her the way she liked him, he should know. Deciding not to tell her friend that her birthday was today, she put her kit down on a table to pick up her white latex gloves.

"We're looking for a murder weapon in the shape of a single edge knife, right?" She asked instead.

"Uh-huh. There is a possibility the killer got it with him, though."

" Yeah, if he had a murder kit. Most criminals leave their weapons behind, if it's not a gun. Like tossing it in the bushes outside of the house or the in the trash..."

Eric nodded at Calleigh's words.

"I'll search the livingroom where the body was found. Mind searching the kitchen?"

"Not at all" Calleigh said, already going through the kitchen drawers.

This scene had already been processed once but it actually happened they could miss something sometimes so that they had to go back. This was one of those cases.

Reaching down to the third kitchen drawer, Calleigh could feel Eric's gaze at her, even though she wasn't sure she was visible behind the counter. She brought her head up slowly, meeting Eric's gaze seven feet away. He was looking at her indeed. Why was he staring at her? She found that very uncomfortable. Did she have anything on her? Toothpaste stain on her black shirt maybe? That had happened before, but then she had noticed it before leaving home. Calleigh looked down quickly to search her shirt for stains. Nothing. She looked up at Eric again, an insecure smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"What?" She half said, half laughed nervously.

"Uh....nothing." Eric said quickly and shook his head. " I...I,uh, I was just...I should probably go. You know, to search for the murder weapon" He said pointing in the direction of the livingroom and disappeared around corner before she had a chance to reply.

_Okay? That was strange and so unlike Eric..._ Calleigh thought with a confused look on her face, but shrugged it off. She tugged at her dark shirt that matched her black jeans. It wasn't unlike her to dress all black. Half of her wardrobe contained black and white clothes, but it was sophisticated clothing she had.

An hour had passed and they still hadn't found anything that Claire, the Kingston mother, had been stabbed with.

Calleigh shut the cabinet door closed and sighed heavily. If they hadn't found anything by now, there probably wasn't anything left for them to find. They had been very thorough and it was the second time this week this scene had been processed.

She was just about to call for Eric and ask him if they should call it quits, when he called for her instead.

" Calleigh, I think you should come and take a look at this!"

Calleigh frowned at the tone in Eric's voice. He sounded suspicious of something.

"I'll be right there."

She closed her kit up and moved out into the big, bright hallway. She had honestly no idea where Eric was. He certainly wasn't in the livingroom because Calleigh could pretty much see the whole room. Well, at least the white couches, with one of them having a large stain of blood on it. The crime scene cleaners had probably had a hard time cleaning that up. And of course she could see the big screen TV that came along with the couches. It was kind of hard to miss. It occupied almost half of the wall.

She glanced up the stairs to the second floor then back to the livingroom.

"Where are you?"

"Upstairs. The boy's room."

Calleigh nodded to no one in particular and grabbed onto the banister with her free hand before starting to climb the stairs.

A few seconds later she was squatting down beside Eric and looking at a photograph of what seemed like a happy family. A smiling brunette mother, a smiling dark blond father and a baby boy sitting in his father's lap. The mother looked very much like their victim, Claire. There was only one slight different. Claire was blonde and not brunette. At least when Calleigh last saw her pictures in the file. Making an assumption she had dyed her hair, Calleigh took the picture from Eric's hand to study it a little more.

" They look so happy...." She mumbled, feeling sorry for the family.

" Yeah." Eric sighed.

" Is this what you wanted to show me?"

" Yes. See the guy in the picture?"

" Uh-huh? Probably the father." Calleigh stated.

" Well, he's a drug dealer in California, and he is wanted:"

Calleigh gave Eric a confused look.

" And you know this how? It's not like we use to remember all the persons that are wanted for something drug related, and besides, that's the PD's job. We're CSI's"

Eric chuckled at Calleigh's word as if she had been joking. She hadn't, but everytime she saw Eric smile, a smile began tugging at her lips.

"You see, I had a little chat with Frank yesterday."

" All right. That would explain it. It's a small world." Calleigh said now smiling fully. Her smile soon faded when her eyes fell back on the picture. " You think this man has something to do with the murder?"

" I don't know. But I would like to ask him some questions."

" Yeah...No murder weapon found?"

" No murder weapon found. I suppose you haven't found one either?"

Calleigh shook her head as she put the picture in one of the evidence bags that she had picked up from her kit. In the next instant a buzzing sound, that came in a rhythm, was heard. It wasn't her cellphone that rang.

"Wherever it is, it's not here" Eric replied and removed his gloves before standing up and picking up his phone from his pocket. Calleigh wondered who it was but she didn't want to seem to curious, so she didn't ask. Eric looked at the caller ID then back to the evidence bag that Calleigh was now securing with a red tape.

"It's H.." He said, reading the question that apparently had formed on Calleigh's face. Calleigh nodded and watched Eric leave the room for a minute.

She put the evidence bag, that contained the picture, in her kit and removed her gloves too. Placing her hands on her knees she pushed herself up to a standing position and started to look around in the room. It was a typical boy's room. Bedsheets were blue, carpet, blue, walls, blue. Most of the things dark blue. On the wall hang posters of The Fast and The Furious and different sports cars. By the far wall stood a bookcase with all sorts of books. Calleigh made a guess this 12 year old boy was a bookworm, a person who liked to read a lot. Now his mother was dead and his father had a warrant for drug dealing. She felt sorry for him.

That's when she saw it. The yearbook of the school where Molly went. Calleigh's breath caught in her throat as she moved over to the bookcase and grabbed the book. Flipping through the pages she could see Molly with the her class and a few pages behind was the boy's picture. His name was Ethan Kingston. He was caucasian with brown hair. His eyes were green. The shy smile on his face and the freckles over his nose, made him look slightly younger than he actually was.

One of the Canning siblings had gone to the same school too. The eight year old girl. How come Calleigh hadn't heard about this in school? Parents were always talking and sometimes school could actually be worse than the lab, when it came to information. It spread like rings on the water surface. And the principal should have announced something. Maybe he had though, but Calleigh had probably missed it.

"What have you found?"

Calleigh jumped and dropped the yearbook on the floor.

" Eric, you scared me." She said picking it up.

" A little jumpy, are we now?"

Calleigh gave him a look that showed she wasn't in the mood for any jokes.

" I'm sorry, Cal. I didn't mean to scare you. What did you find?"

" A-a yearbook."

" Let me see that." Eric said grabbing the book from her hands and studying it for a while.

" Isn't this the same school Molly goes too?"

" It is. Hannah Canning, the 8 year old girl who was murdered, went there as well." Calleigh stated folding her arms over her chest.

Eric nodded. "Could be a coincidence, though" He shrugged

"Maybe it isn't" Calleigh replied taking the yearbook back into her hands and thinking Eric was probably thinking she was being a little paranoid. She exhaled and shook her head again, letting her hair fall in her face.

"Cal, Not that I think that anything will happen to your sister but if you're so worried, maybe you should send Molly away for a few days."

Calleigh shot him an angry glare. What did he mean by that? Didn't he think she could protect her own sister? On the other hand, it was a pretty good idea. At least until all of this was over. Then she could do her work without worrying as much as she was doing now. She eased somewhat on her angry glare and nodded.

" Yeah that's a good idea. I will talk to Anna and see if she can take Molly with her to California for a few weeks. Thanks, Eric."

"You're welcome. H called earlier, we have to get back to the lab. They need us."

"All right. I'm right behind you." Calleigh replied, placing the yearbook back into the bookshelf and grabbing her kit that was standing on the floor.


End file.
